Lewis Takes Foot Out of Mouth, Issues Statement

Alleged comedian Jerry Lewis has issued a statement to CNN, following the public outcry over his use of a gay slur on this weekend's MDA Telethon:

"During the 21-1/2-hour live broadcast of my Telethon for the Muscular Dystrophy Association this weekend, I made a joking comment to a member of my production team. I apologize to anyone who was offended. I obviously made a bad choice of words. Everyone who knows me understands that I hold no prejudices in this regard. In the family atmosphere of the Telethon, I forget that not everyone knows me that well. That something like this would distract from the true purpose of the Telethon pains me deeply. The success of the show and all the good that will come from it shouldn't be lost because of one unfortunate word. I accept responsibility for what I said. There are no excuses. I am sorry."



Reader Comments

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61. Mr. lewis has done some great work for mda. I happen to meet him many years ago and he is a rude and nasty man to the public.

Posted at 11:03AM on Sep 5th 2007 by garya

62. Isn't Jerry a big ole Mo himself? Don't see the big deal.

Posted at 8:44AM on Sep 14th 2007 by TMZ Fan

63. All the other celebrities, etc. should take note. "There are no excuses. I am sorry." is exactly what constitutes a real apology.

Posted at 7:46PM on Sep 4th 2007 by BlissfulGirl

64. 43. Wait, what about all of the ILLITERATE people that MUST be offended?? Nobody is saying anything about them?

Posted at 6:59PM on Sep 4th 2007 by Jenn Canada

BECAUSE THEY CAN'T READ~

Posted at 7:48PM on Sep 4th 2007 by SoulWithoutShame

65. #69SoulWithoutShame---Oh, you have shame, baby. I am your neighbor, and I saw what you did last night. Can't fool me.

Posted at 7:51PM on Sep 4th 2007 by Wow!

66. That's crazy talk!

Posted at 7:53PM on Sep 4th 2007 by Tom Cruise

67. I've often wondered: just HOW MUCH of this MD Telethon money raised each year actually reaches MD researchers and patients??? I'd venture a guess its a pretty small percentage of the "take". Fortunately, I have better things to do w/my time than watch Jerry Lewis make an obnoxious arse of himself for 20+ hours - like clean the cat's litter box and muck the horses' stalls, mow the lawn, etc.

Posted at 8:13PM on Sep 4th 2007 by Jerry

68. Jerry has for years been know to have one persona on camera (Mr. funny guy) and one off camera (Mr. mean spirited biggot) so it is not surprising that he would when thinking his live feed was off make a blue remark to his production team.

The good news at 80 he will most likley be dead before he can be fired! America needs to lighten up!

Posted at 8:13PM on Sep 4th 2007 by davey d

69. Don't people have to be watching in order to be offended? I know they had another record breaking pledge drive, but was anyone watching who was under the age of 100? I turned it on, Jerry looked terrible and sounded incoherant and that was in the first 15 minutes of the show. I know MDA is a wonderful organization and is doing terrific things, but my God, Jerry needs to retire. He's 82! Enough is enough already. Let someone young and energetic takeover and rework the telethon so people under 100 might be interested in watching. Ed McMahon sounds awful as well. I want to remember these fine entertainers in their prime, now as old men with one foot in the grave and the other on a banana peel.

Posted at 8:07PM on Sep 4th 2007 by Robb Everett

70. We forgive you Jerry. I hope you will be hosting many more telethons to come.

Posted at 6:36AM on Sep 5th 2007 by a fan

71. Give it a rest. Watch the clip and you'll see that Jerry instantly knew he said something wrong and slammed on the brakes.

This will blow over in a day but it's nice to see that the vast majority of comments here support Jerry. That must be ripping the morons at TMZ to pieces. I'm sure they were hoping for anti-Jerry comment after anti-Jerry comment.

By the way TMZ, with almost sixty years of photos of Jerry to choose from, pretty sleazy to pick the one that you did. I believe this photo was from the Friars event a couple of years ago when Jerry was having his yet undetected heart problems. Great job making fun of a heart attack victim you lowlife bottom feeders.

Posted at 8:22PM on Sep 4th 2007 by Chris DeBello

72. Back in the day, people used to think Jerry and Dean were lovers. So what if they were. Sex is Sex and Love is Love.

Posted at 8:10PM on Sep 4th 2007 by SoulWithoutShame

73. Just as cleanliness is next to Godliness....PC is next to Naziness...get over it!

Posted at 8:21PM on Sep 4th 2007 by Thomas Paine

74. Free speech is GREAT, but not if you say something about Israel or Jewish people than hell breaks loose. Gays are free speech, blacks are free speech,asians are free speech, presidents are free speech, but not XXXS

Posted at 8:30PM on Sep 4th 2007 by Nikki

75. Jerry Lewis is a bigot. Why would you even go there??? People should not tolerate this kind of behavior.....EVER!

Posted at 8:24PM on Sep 4th 2007 by Kevin Davis

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